Xcel to purchase 140 MW in solar near Roswell

From Xcel Energy

Published 7:54 am, Thursday, October 8, 2015

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Xcel to purchase 140 MW in solar near Roswell

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ROSWELL, N.M. - Xcel Energy is adding luster to its growing renewable portfolio with Wednesday’s approval by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission for the company’s purchase of 140 megawatts of photovoltaic solar-produced electric power from two planned developments near Roswell, New Mexico, that will be the largest in the state when completed.

Xcel Energy has signed two long-term purchased power agreements with affiliates of Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, and expects to add the solar energy capacity before the end of 2016.

NextEra will development the Hale Community Wind project in Hale County.

David Hudson, president of Southwestern Public Service Company, an Xcel Energy company, said the cost of the solar power to be purchased, aided by New Mexico’s production tax credit, starts at 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2017, making it one of the most competitive solar contracts in the nation. This price also is below the cost of generating power with some of the company’s older natural gas-fueled plants.

“This purchase puts our Texas-New Mexico system on track to reduce our carbon emissions by 18 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and it will help us further reduce fuel costs and pass those savings directly to our customers,” Hudson said.

The two 70-megawatt facilities that will produce the contracted energy will be constructed on 1,500 acres of private land in Chaves County formerly used for livestock grazing. Construction is expected to start in November and be completed by the end of 2016.

Mike McLeod, Xcel Energy director for customer and community relations in Roswell, said Roswell and Chaves County have embraced the projects because of the value they add to the local tax base, and for the potential they have in spurring other renewable energy development in the region.

“Xcel Energy has been a driver behind the renewable energy economy in New Mexico through its significant purchases of wind and solar energy generated in this area,” McLeod said. “We are fortunate that we can use New Mexico’s abundant natural energy resources and lock in such a good price for our customers.”

Xcel Energy is the nation’s No. 1 provider of wind energy, as ranked by the American Wind Energy Association, and is among the top10 U.S. utilities for the amount of solar power on its systems, according to the Solar Electric Power Association.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Southwestern Public Service Company, Xcel Energy serves close to 385,000 customers in eastern and southeastern New Mexico and the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas. The company also owns and operates a 7,000-mile high-voltage transmission system that extends into Oklahoma and Kansas. This transmission system moves more than 2,400 megawatts of wind energy produced in the area. Once the NextEra projects come on line, total solar capacity on Xcel Energy’s Texas-New Mexico system will be close to 200 megawatts, produced largely in New Mexico.